There is a kind of stigma attached to using container return machines at a local supermarket. Recycling has its own rewards, we say for fear of looking like deadbeats, even at times when netting a few bucks on those beer cans and soda bottles couldn't hurt.

Chinese, on the other hand, do not seem to have this problem as one Beijing-based company has begun to introduce similar vending systems all throughout the city. It cost only 30,000 yuan (about $4,292) to develop and after just one week some 3,000 empty containers have been recycled. The machines proved a hit for their ease of operation and a 0.10 yuan reward they offer to anyone for spent tare.

Ecofriend notes that the machine works by reading barcodes and accepts only plastic or aluminum containers. "It received more than 1,700 bottles during the three-day holiday. We are quite satisfied with the result," said Cao, an office director with the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street Management Office. "The scheme will raise the public's awareness of environmental protection issues."